Potholes pop up across St. Joseph after blizzard

St. Joseph’s roads have been largely plowed and residents are no longer trapped within their homes, however, the receding snow is revealing damage from the historic snowfall on asphalt and pavement throughout the city.

From Downtown to the Belt Highway, heavy snow and freezing temperatures have created potholes and accelerated damage to the pre-existing ones, meaning work is far from over for streets crews in the aftermath of a historic blizzard.

Jackson Jones, City of St. Joseph’s superintendent of streets and infrastructure, said while the first task at hand is staying prepared for another winter storm by repairing snow plows and equipment that was pushed to the limit, road crews have already had to do emergency roadwork in areas with notable deterioration.

“The freeze cycle and plowing are two of the hardest things you can do to a road,” Jones said. “You get a little crack in the road and water gets down in it overnight and it freezes and makes things move … in general is a real issue.”

With the Jan. 5, blizzard dropping 13 to 16 inches of snow across two days, more than the city typically gets in an entire winter, city crews will be keeping a close eye on road conditions and are ready to move on patchwork when needed.

“I’m sure we’ll be getting calls on different issues of concern throughout the week,” Jones said. “If we find a pothole or something, we’re going to have to go out and fix it.”

A blast of disruptive winter weather just days into the New Year means roads could be in for a long season if significant snow events continue, but bouts of thawing and refreezing conditions are what typically result in the most damage, according to Jones.

“As big as the freeze-thaw cycle was through things is going to be a big impact,” he said. “We haven’t seen this much snow in a long time but we’ve seen bigger swings … last year we had a deep freeze and then it thawed out and things started boiling up.”